Unionville High dedicates portion of library to U.S. presidents

Historian Walter Eckman joins with Unionville High School librarian Diane Mustin and district superintendent John Sanville at the ribbon cutting of the new Presidential Library section of the UHS library Wednesday night. Staff photo by Wm. Shawn Weigel

It’s a celebration of the view from the top of American history at Unionville High School’s new Presidential Library.

On Wednesday night the district unveiled the new library, which is housed in a section of the high school’s existing library.

The ribbon cutting ceremony was preceded by a presentation by Kennett author and history buff Walter Eckman, who recently completed a book on U.S. presidents called, “Meet the Presidents.”

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District superintendent John Sanville said that Eckman originally approached him with the idea on June 14 – appropriately, on Flag Day.

“The idea was to promote the idea of presidents with our students,” Sanville said. “So he’ll be arranging some in-house field trips with the kids, and he’s helped set us up with this library.”

Technologies director and self-confessed history buff Rich Hug said Eckman was a big reason the district put together not only the library, but an upcoming lecture series on a number of presidents.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Hug said of putting the project together. “And we’re honored to have (Eckman) as our first speaker.”

Wednesday night’s lecture featured Eckman on stage in the LGI room at the high school discussing a variety of presidential tidbits – from Teddy Roosevelt’s asthma-ridden youth to Lyndon B. Johnson’s use of his imposing height (6’3) to intimidate people.

He even offered his opinion on Pennsylvania’s one and only contribution to the presidential pool, James Buchannan (the short version: he was lousy).

Eckman, who previously had written a book exploring retirement options for older citizens, said he first became fascinated with presidents after his father took him to see Harry Truman as a child.

“There’s a certain kind of electricity when you’re in the presence of a president,” Eckman said on Wednesday night. “It’s actually hard to explain.”

Although he was always a history and presidential buff – he’s since seen three other presidents in person – Eckman said he first became interested in the topic for a book on where presidents retire.

Eckman’s book focuses on several aspects of the lives of each of our 44 presidents, notably where they were born, where they were interred and their libraries – if they exist.

“FDR was actually the first president to commission a library,” Eckman said.

Since then, 12 other presidential libraries have opened their doors, with George W. Bush’s in Dallas, Texas, as the latest addition.

In exploring the lives of former presidents, Eckman said there were no real commonalities between the many different personalities that have occupied the position of Commander in Chief.

“There’s no mold that they fit into,” Eckman said. “People think that presidents all have similar characteristics, and that’s really not true.”

A few common threads he did find among the presidents, however, was a love of country and a love of reading, with many claiming the library in their homes as their favorite place to be.

“They were all readers and loved books,” Eckman said. “When I hear that term, ‘presidential library,’ it fits the office so well.”

Three presidents are currently featured in the UHS Presidential Library – William Henry Harrison, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Harry S. Truman. The library plans to rotate the displays and to include local presidential artifacts.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the library should call 610-347-0970, ext. 3322, or email at: preslib@ucfsd.org.